Explanation:
Does spiral galaxy NGC 2683 have a bar across its centre?
Being so nearly like our own
barred Milky Way Galaxy, one might guess it has.
Being so nearly edge-on, however, it is
hard to tell.
Either way, this gorgeous island universe, catalogued
as NGC 2683, lies a mere
20 million light-years distant in the northern constellation of the Cat
(Lynx).
NGC 2683 is seen nearly edge-on in
this cosmic vista combining data and images from the ground-based
Subaru telescope and the space-based
Hubble Space Telescope.
More distant
galaxies are seen scattered in the background.
Blended light from a large population of old yellowish stars forms
the remarkably bright
galactic core.
Starlight silhouettes the dust lanes along winding spiral arms, dotted
with the telltale blue glow of young star clusters
in this galaxy's star forming regions.